Page 136 of A World of Ruins

‘Sire.’

Hedris halts at the voice of one of his men. Every head then turns, sees the soldier’s hands trembling as he grips his weapon, a terrified look on his face.

Then one by one, Hedris’s soldiers all begin to turn their swords on themselves.

Hedris looks on in horror at his men as each one slits their own throat against their will. Darius watches the scene unfold with a smirk on his face, his Merati powers snaking their way through the soldiers’ minds.

A growl rumbles deep from within Hedris’s chest as he whirls to us, his eyes practically bulging with unrestrained anger. He extends his palm out at us, a swirl of dark water aimed right at us.

‘You—’

One minute, he is snarling at us; the next, his head is rolling onto the floor as his body stays standing. Then his knees buckle, and he collapses.

My eyes stretch wide, disbelief etched into my every feature as a figure appears, her blade dripping with the remnants of Hedris’s blood.

Nonchalantly, she cleans her blade on her leather garb. ‘I never truly liked him.’

‘Sarilyn,’ I whisper.

CHAPTERFIFTY-NINE

Sarilyn meets my gaze with ferocity. ‘I thought you might need some help.’

I choke out an astonished gasp. She didn’t run away after I freed her. No, she came back.

‘What are you doing?’The memory of Sarilyn asking me that the day I let her go comes at me in flashes.

‘Doing what you would never have done for me,’I had said before burning through the iron cell with my power.

Darius steps forward, his expression unreadable as he stares at the person who made his life a living hell.

‘Thief.’ Sarilyn’s acknowledgement of Darius isn’t laced with the venom it once might have held. Instead, there is a flicker of understanding that echoes between them.

And suddenly, a smirk tugs at the corner of Darius’s lips. ‘Sarilyn.’

Sarilyn’s posture is relaxed yet undeniably commanding, like it has always been.

‘I never thought of you as the cavalry type,’ I say, and she laughs.

One of Aurum’s dragons comes crashing down on us, and Darius whirls around me, slamming his shadow power at the creature.

Sarilyn throws me another blade. This one is shorter than the one I gave Link. ‘I thought I would try something new,’ she tells me as she skilfully thrusts her sword through an Aerian.

I had never seen her fight this way.

It is almost alarming.

‘Naralía!’ Ara’s mocking voice comes calling from the other side of the battlefield. I whirl to find her slowly marching her way up to us, flames dancing in her palms.

‘Go,’ Sarilyn says. ‘I’ll handle her.’

I look at her, wondering if I should, but all she does is give me a gaze that warns me not to test her. So I dart off, paving the way to Aurum. Until someone bumps into me and sends me to the ground.

I am taken aback by the sudden force, gasping for air as I desperately try to regain my footing, only to be met with a powerful kick to my stomach. I let out a cry of agony, doubling over as I gaze into the furious eyes of Col.

With her staff raised high, she prepares to strike me, but I swiftly dodge her attack only to catch a glimpse of Ara, almost overpowering Sarilyn. I tightly grasp my blade, swinging it towards Col, but she grabs my arm before sending a powerful blow to my nose.

I see stars, blood pouring from every direction.

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